Venues confirm being misled by anti-vaccine Messenger – Tenpenny tour

Four venues have cancelled their bookings with the Sherri Tenpenny anti-vaccine tour organiser Stephanie Messenger, and her fake foundation which distastefully exploits the names and images of Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr, and Mahatma Gandhi. It should be noted that the Nelson Mandela Foundation is already in discussion with its intellectual property and governance personnel about the abuse of Madiba’s name and image.

For an in-depth investigation of the concerning backroom financial irregularities apparently being conducted by Messenger and her three organisations, in concert with her fake foundation GanKinMan, please read this post on Diluted Thinking:

My second post includes a list of media items (33 at present, but, updating every hour), as well as a collection of the atrocious claims made by Tenpenny, including that babies should receive no immunisations, and her repugnant claims that vaccines lead to the creation of mass murderers, precisely like the murderer who massacred the innocents at Sandy Hook Elementary School. There are just no words:

Two of the four venues which have cancelled their booking with Messenger’s fake foundation have had something more concerning to convey; although, anyone who has had any dealings with the anti-vaccine movement will expect this behaviour in the first instance. The venues have stated they were misled by Messenger about the beliefs and intent of the events.

Concord Function Centre, in Sydney, have made their views known to all who have emailed them:

And they had this to say in many other emails:

Thank you for writing to us with your concerns. We appreciate that you have written to us in such a professional and well explained manner. We have taken into account the email you have sent below. The lady that had booked the event with us never mentioned that this event would be held for such a nasty cause.

The Concord Function Centre takes its social responsibilities very seriously, and after much research and consideration of all available facts we have decided to withdraw from providing our services to the event being held in March 14th and March 15th. In short – Tenpenny is banned from entering Concord Function Centre!

The Concord Function Centre deserve all our thanks and support that we can muster.

The same can be said for the Kareela Golf Club, in Sydney’s south. They made it quite clear to ABC News that they had the same experience as above:

The Amora Hotel Riverwalk has also stated that they were deceived into taking a booking for the anti-vaccine event, and should be congratulated for canceling it:

All of these venues and their staff must be applauded for their strong stance in defence of public and paediatric health. Kudos.

The same can’t be said for Rydges Hotels. Overnight they confirmed that they would not be cancelling their booking, stating they would censor no one:

And they added that all are welcome at Rydges as long as they don’t break the law:

But, that’s not what they said last year. And, this is directly relevant: the argument from those opposed to Tenpenny clearly cites a real risk of harm (as well as poor character), to the community, and public health, if venues allow anti-vaccination campaigners to hold these seminars. And risk of harm, and poor character, are also arguments used against one person whom Rydges did cancel:

Astonishing.

Feel free to email Rydges. I have already witnessed major bookings being cancelled immediately, because of this decision.

Thanks.

Update January 9 2015

At 1705 hours the folks at Quality Hotel Mermaid Waters announced they have cancelled the Gold Coast event. Congratulations to them, as well as a hearty dose of thanks on behalf of public health:

This leaves only Michael’s Oriental Restaurant, in Brisbane, and Rydges South Park, in Adelaide.

The long FB response from Concord to Sam is certainly eye-opening and is one of the most-honest, no-corporate-speak responses I’ve seen. They certainly are to be thanked.

Unfortunately, Mermaid’s FB page seems to have gone. It would be a shame if they’ve acted responsibly and then crumbled under pressure. But some of the anti-conference comments to all venues left a lot to be desired. I think some people forget that not everyone is as close to this issue as they might be. Most people have no idea there’s an anti-vax lobby and are hardly likely to sit up- and take notice the moment some rabid “pro-vaxxers” start barking at them..